Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Ethical Eating: [mostly] vegan

Last night the hipster cashier dude at my neighborhood froofy grocery store took a look at my pile of coconut water and diluted coconut milk (as cow's milk substitute) and asked me if I use coconut oil, too, saying that he baked cookies with it and they turned out funny. I said that while I had seen coconut oil in vegan recipes as an alternative to butter, I've never really mustered up enough courage to cook with coconut oil. I just use it as the occasional deep conditioning treatment for my hair.

"Are you vegan?" he asked.

Oh dear. And now I felt I had to explain my entire diet to him.

"No," I said, "I eat mostly vegan, I guess. I cook vegan at home, eat vegetarian socially, and treat myself to the occasional sashimi." I smiled and added, "And bacon."

I found it funny that I was treating cheese consumption as a social construct, much like a person might claim to drink or smoke "socially."

So that's my diet. I've lost anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds in the last six months, and my cholesterol numbers are awesome. I think in my next few posts I'll elaborate on why the heck I turned myself into a grass-fed hippie.

Besides, I'm in music theory marination mode for the time being, so I might as well take a mental break to write about food.